Back Bay - Midtown neighborhood notes

The John Winthrop School street fair will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 on Marlborough Street between Berkeley and Clarendon streets.

Festivities will include moon bounces, live music, face painting, photo booth, games, balloons, prizes and a silent auction. Food from local businesses and restaurants and a bake sale with homemade goodies will be available.

This is a scholarship fundraiser with the proceeds directly benefiting families in need of tuition assistance.

For more information, call 617-267-7159 or visit www.johnwinthropschool.org.

Breakfast with Tiffany’s

The Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St., will celebrate its 150th anniversary with “Breakfast with Tiffany’s: A Celebration of Art and Design” from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14.

The church contains the largest intact collection of Tiffany stained glass church windows in the world, as well as a 6 x 12-foot Tiffany chandelier, the largest of any lamp Tiffany created.

Attendees can drink mimosas and coffee and look at the one-of-a-kind artwork, enjoy a catered breakfast, listen to live music, have a photography tutorial, bid in a silent auction and take a guided tour with Tiffany scholar and art historian Charlene James.

Proceeds will go to the Covenant Boston Preservation Project to help in the stewardship of this National Historic Landmark.

For more information, visit www.cotcbos.org or call 617-266-7480.

Authors visit library

Authors Claire McMillan and Denise Kiernan will be the guest speakers from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St.

McMillan’s novel “The Necklace” alternates between past and present to link two women - a Jazz Age beauty and a young lawyer - to an Indian necklace and an even more valuable secret. Kiernan’s “The Last Castle” explores the true story behind the Gilded Age mansion Biltmore - the largest, grandest residence ever built in the United States.

Admission is free. Call 617-536-5400 for further details.

Music of Mendelssohn

Emmanuel Music will present the first performance in the new Mendelssohn/Wolf chamber series at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15.

Featured works will include Mendelssohn’s “Concert Piece for Clarinet, Basset Horn and Piano in F minor,” “Lieder ohne Worte, Book 6, op. 67” and “Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major” and “Eichendorff Lieder” by Hugo Wolf.

Tickets range from $30 to $55 with a $10 admission for students.

For more information, call 617-536-3356 or visit www.emmanuelmusic.org.

Churchill talk

Author David Lough will be the guest speaker from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at the New England Historical Genealogical Society, 99-101 Newbury St.

Historian and banker Lough is the author of “No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money,” which chronicles Winston Churchill’s precarious private finances. Using Churchill’s own private records, he looks at the family’s habitual shortage of funds, Churchill’s extravagance and his recurring losses from gambling and trading in shares.

Admission is $30. This program is presented in partnership with the National Trust for Scotland Foundation.

Visit www.americanancestors.org or call 617-536-5740 to register.

Adventures in collecting

The Ayer Mansion, 395 Commonwealth Ave., will welcome guest speaker D. Brenton Simons, president and CEO of the New England Historical Genealogical Society, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17

Historian and collector Simons will discuss his favorite adventures in personal and institutional collecting of art and antiques in this illustrated presentation. As president of the NEHGS, he has helped steward and expand its collections, and as a private collector and family curator he has added to a large collection of family heirlooms, including 17th century ancestral portraits and his family’s armorial china. He is the author of “Boston Beheld: Antique Town & Country Views.”

Tickets are $35 or $5 for students. A wine and cheese reception will be held at 6 p.m. with the talk at 7 p.m.

To make a reservation, send an email to ayermansion@gmail.com or call 617-536-2586.

Musical instrument collection

The Central Reform Temple and the Museum of Fine Arts will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the MFA’s Lindsey Instrument Collection in a collaborative program from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19 at the Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Center, 15 Newbury St.

The evening will include an introduction by MFA curator Darcy Kuronen and a musical performance using the instruments from the collection. The musicians will perform repertoire of the time period of the instruments.

Tickets are $25 and are available at www.centralreformtemple.org or by calling 617-262-1202.

‘Tartuffe’

The French Cultural Center of Boston, 53 Marlborough St., and the Huntington Theatre Company will present an in-depth discussion on the upcoming Huntington production of Moliere’s “Tartuffe” from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20 at the center.

Director Peter DuBois, dramaturge Charles Haughland and members of the cast and creative team will guide the audience through the play, discuss their use of modern translation and share what it means to be doing French comedy today.

Admission is $5 for members and $15 for non-members.

Further information can be found at www.frenchculturalcenter.org or by calling 617-912-0400.

Chamber music

The Chamber Orchestra of Boston will open its 2017-2018 season with a performance “A Little Night Music” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21 at the First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough St.

Three young pianists will take center stage; 10-year olds Charles Molten and Felicity Zhang and 12-year old Raner Chow will be the soloists for the Boston première of “Suite Petite” by Robert Edward Smith.

Piano teacher Mila Filatova commissioned the new work to give young students an opportunity to play with an orchestra. Also on the program are Mozart’s famous “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” Borodin’s romantic “Nocturne” and new works by Brian Balmages and Oliver Caplan.

Visit www.chamberorchestraofboston.org or call 617-266-1626.

Introduction to genealogy

The New England Historical Genealogical Society, 99-101 Newbury St., will host a new visitor tour at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.

Attendees will learn about the resources available at the research facility as they tour the building and meet the expert staff. The NEHGS is the largest and oldest genealogy library and archive in the country, with more than 15 million artifacts, records, books, manuscripts, photographs and more. Attendees are welcome to use any of the resources after the tour. Registration is not required.

Visit www.americanancestors.org or call 617-536-5740 for more information.

Tiny houses exhibit

A new exhibition, “Wonder Women: Anne Plaisance and Tradition House,” are being displayed now through Oct. 23 at the French Cultural Center of Boston, 53 Marlborough St.

In this exhibition, tiny houses by the residents of Transition House as well as paintings by the artist Anne Plaisance aim to spark dialogue and develop strategies to address homelessness and violence against women.

The Tiny Houses made by the residents of Transition House will be for sale in the gallery.

The exhibit is free, but reservations are recommended.

Visit www.frenchculturalcenter.org or call 617-912-0400 for more information and to RSVP.

Art exhibition

The New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University is displaying “We Dream - Beauty Beyond and Beneath” now through Oct. 27 at the gallery at 75 Arlington St.

This exhibit brings together artists from many disciplines who all share the idea of beauty, sometimes terrifying; or in the face of the grotesque; dreamlike; and looking beyond or beneath what is visible. The works range from paintings to photographs to sculptural objects. Part of the exhibition includes an interactive camera obscura space.

Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The gallery is free and open to the public.

Call 617-573-8785 or send an email to gallery@suffolk.edu for more information.

Art exhibit

The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury St., is hosting a new members’ exhibition now to Oct. 28 in the President’s Gallery.

Works by Curtis Hanson and Michael Graves will be on display.

Admission is free.

Visit www.guildofbostonartists.org or call 617-536-7660 for more details.

Americans in WWI

The New England Historical Genealogical Society, 99-101 Newbury St., is displaying the exhibit “Voices of War: Americans in World War I, 1917-1918” now until Oct. 31.

Using letters, diaries, photographs, ephemera and other special items from the collections of the NEHGS, Jewish Heritage Center and Historic Newton,

Visit www.americanancestors.org or call 617-536-5740 for more information.

Bach cantatas

Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St., is presenting its 42nd season of the J. S. Bach Cantatas at 10 a.m. on Sundays now to May 20.

The orchestra and chorus of Emmanuel Music will present weekly performances of the cantatas and motets of J.S. Bach and others, conducted by Ryan Turner.

For more information, call 617-536-3356 or visit www.emmanuelmusic.org.

Collections tour

The Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston St., will host tours of the collections of the society at 10 a.m. on Saturdays during October.

Led by an MHS staff member or docent, the 90-minute tour focuses on the history and collections of the MHS.

The tour is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required for individuals or small groups. Parties of eight or more should contact the MHS.

Further information can be found at www.masshist.org or by calling 617-646-0560.

Victorian Back Bay

Boston by Foot is offering 90-minute guided, walking tours of the Back Bay at 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. on Sundays, now to Oct. 30. Walkers will meet the guide on the steps of Trinity Church at Copley Square.

Visitors will discover how the Back Bay, once a body of water, was filled in and how the neighborhood was developed in the mid-19th century to become one of the nation’s richest collections of art and architecture. The treasures of the Back Bay tour include Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, Old South Church and the grand Back Bay townhouses.

Tickets are $13 adults, $8 children, ages 6 to 12, and free for members if purchased in advance or an additional $2 if purchased from the guide.

For more information, visit www.bostonbyfoot.org or call 617-237-2345.

Library tours

Boston Public Library volunteers will give art and architecture tours of the McKim Building, a National Historic Landmark, in its main building, constructed in 1895, throughout the week.

Highlights include the murals of John Singer Sargent, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and Edwin Austin Abbey and the work of architect Charles Follen McKim.

Self-guided tours are available as well, and literature describing the architectural highlights is available on the web at www.bpl.org/central/tours.htm.

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